One of Todds favourite bands although I think he prefers their later stuff, I was a big fan of their 60's R & B output, hell they even got in the charts in the UK
The Pretty Things first three singles — "Rosalyn" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 — appeared in the UK Singles Chart in 1964 and 1965.
I remember they were very similar to The Stones in the mid sixties (my older brother had LP's by both bands) and some people thought they were better than the Stones, its long been said though that they never went and toured the States to secure the big sales and tours that bands needed whereas the Stones of course did.
In many ways these boys made the Stones look cuddly
They changed style and made the first rock opera SF Sorrow in 1969 which commercially was a flop
Still gigging though I believe and In April 2012, a re-imagining of S.F. Sorrow, entitled Sorrow's Children and featuring covers by contemporary bands of each track, was due for release on Fruits De Mer Records. The album included an interview with May and Taylor, and had a live version of "Loneliest Person". The latter was recorded at their gig at London's 100 Club in December 2010, at which they played the whole of their first album.
Heres one from their eariler R n B period that I really like, Judgement Day (I can imagine them blasting this out live)